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US singer-songwriter Josh Ritter has revealed that his 2011 divorce from fellow musician Dawn Landes inspired new album The Beast In Its Tracks.

The couple had been married for less than two years when they announced their separation in February that year.

Speaking to Wisconsin newspaper The Isthmus, the 36 year-old recalled the creative process that lay behind his new album.

“The first question was whether I was going to write about the divorce at all. I answered that one immediately. Of course I had to write about it. If I don’t write about this, then what’s the point of me writing about anything?”

He was determined to create a relatively upbeat take on divorce, Ritter told the journalist.

“I’ve heard lots of songs and records about divorce and splitting up, and I feel like the major flaw, what took me out of the moment, was they were striving to be about one emotion: anger. There wasn’t even a thread of hope. I wanted to make sure this album didn’t end up that way.”

His producer encouraged a relaxed approach to recording to a collection of songs which had initially worried him, the singer explained.

“At the start, my producer, Sam Kassirer, wisely said, ‘We’re going to put a microphone in front of you, record it, and get it all out there. Don’t worry about what you want to cut. That was great because I got to sing all these angry songs, and I could still purge myself of all that stuff. [It doesn’t] rule my life anymore.”

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